


325 sols

by zora (nico_neo)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Astronauts, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, I don't know how to tag this, M/M, Mars, Matter of Life and Death, NASA, Pining, Rescue Missions, Self-Indulgent, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Space Flight, Strangers to Lovers, Survival, inspired by The Martian, this is a ride, this is totally self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25628059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nico_neo/pseuds/zora
Summary: "When people are missing in the damages of a natural catastrophe, people won’t stop looking for the missings, even if they need to travel dozens of kilometers to do so. I don’t get why it’ll be any different for someone who is planets and millions of kilometers away.”"I found him, he's alive."Kuroo and Sakusa weren’t sure what it meant to be lost... but somehow, they found each other millions miles away.Or, the space AU no one asked for, but that I've definitely written.
Relationships: (hinted), Bokuto Koutarou/Miya Atsumu, Kuroo Tetsurou/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 60





	325 sols

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hoetaku97](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoetaku97/gifts).



> Oh my god what is this.
> 
> This, is the result of user @sakusakiyoomi on twitter (@hoetaku97 on ao3!) exposing my brain to the magnificiency that is kuroomi (kurosaku or idk what the other names might be). Really, I was about to go on a marvel themed work when she just sent : kuroomi. And my ass literally went: space. (Not at all influenced by the Guardians Of The Galaxy talked we had just before and my dad watching Star Trek discovery, noooo).
> 
> So, here it is... A 17k monster of pining space boyfriends. I wouldn't have been able to do/finish it if it wasn't for her brain along with the fu cult gc. Mwah <3  
> This is heavily inspired by the matserpiece that is The Martian. I've read the book way before the movie came out and I just,,, I love it. The movie was really good too! I need to watch it again. So, yeah, lots of things similar, mostly for the "surviving Mars" part because... I'm no scientists nor astronaut, I needed to take example on something lol. Every more 'Nasa-ish" part written in there might not be 100% accurate (and maybe not even possible sometimes), but... I did my best lol
> 
> Disclaimer section:  
> Like i told in a previous fic I am not reading the scans (I'm at the Nekoma match now yay I advanced a bit lol) and instead the books so i'm just following the French publication, which is rather LATE. So, yep basically that's just me saying I know little to nothing about Omi, character wise, and that he was a challenge to write :clownface: But I hope I did okay!
> 
> Before you read, her's the [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0LzyVehCyBi1MFZnZLVuJ4?si=IhAs1PlbTDCAkeKY-oshvA)  
> For increased reading experience, I suggest you to maybe listen to it! (no i am absolutely not asking this because I spent 3h making sure it fitted the scenes ;-;)  
> I also apologize if any mistakes are still here!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

_Johnson Space Center, Houston._

_23rd of August 2035._

They all heard it. They all knew what happened. There were screams, statics, and then, silence.

“Can someone _please_ try to rekindle the communication system!”

“The communication system doesn’t answer, sir! Maybe it’s been damaged during the storm.”

“I don’t care! Reboot! Contact the Space Station, see if they can get in contact better than us.”

There were long minutes of silence. Heavy silence. Held up breaths. Nails bitten. Prayers. And then, finally, relief as a distant voice was heard.

“They’re safe!” one of the engineers announced.

A collective sigh of relief, embraces, high fives and smiles. 

But it all stopped with one final sentence.

“Sakusa is missing.”  
  
  
  


They immediately put a research team on the matter. Kuroo, along with a few other of his astronauts teammates were called to help the satellite planners review the last images before and after the accident. The stormed created tremendous damages, and analyzing the aerial pictures wasn’t easy. To the extent that, after a couple of days - four days - without finding any clues or evidences, the director of NASA had to publicly state the news.

“After days of communication attempts from both the International Space Station, the _Poseidon_ \- the Mars mission crew’s orbiting vessel currently en route to Earth -, reviews and analysis of the satellite pictures. I am sorry to inform that no traces or evidences that astronaut Kiyoomi Sakusa survived the incident were found. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and close ones.” 

Those were his words.

But something didn’t seem right, to Tetsurou. He didn’t know why, but he _knew_ that Kiyoomi was still alive. 

“It doesn’t fit,” he said to his teammate and friend, Koutarou Bokuto, a few days after the President speech, during lunch. 

“What doesn’t fit?” Bokuto asked, picking loosely at the carrots in his metallic tray. His NASA blue uniform was zipped down, leaving him in a white t-shirt. 

“The pictures.” Kuroo let his fork down on his tray to fold his hands under his chin. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, his jacket loosely zipped, revealing his neck where a metallic chain hanged around it. One his thumb started to play with it, absentmindedly. “Something doesn’t fit,” he repeated. “But I don’t know _what_.”

“We went over the satellite images a hundred times,” Koutarou said, carefully. “We never found anything. I know it’s… stress-inducing making you - all of us - feel useless. We all wish we found something.”

“What if we didn’t search enough?” Tetsurou mumbled. 

Bokuto didn’t answer.

  
  


Kuroo didn’t know _why._ But he had a feeling they were all missing something. Something infinitesimal, but still something that could maybe make a difference.

Which is probably why, he found himself knocking on Akaashi Keiji’s door. Their satellite planner. He entered without waiting for the other man’s answer. Keiji was slumped over some pictures, glasses perched on his nose, the only light in the room was coming from the table the image was put on. Hearing him entering, the man straightened up and turned to look at him.

“Can I help you?” Akaashi asked him.

“Do you still have the pictures? Kuroo asked. “From the day of the storm and the three weeks following after that.”

“They’ve been archived but I can take them out of the database, yes,” the smaller man answered. “Why?” he asked.

“I just feel like we’re missing something.”

“Missing what? We didn’t find anything, why now?”

Why now, indeed. Well, that is a question even Kuroo didn’t know what to answer to. 

“I don’t know. And maybe I won’t find anything, yes. But I won’t leave this room until you’ve given me the aerial images.”

He didn’t know why he hung on a tiny hope that they were wrong all along. And that Sakusa was certainly alive. But Kuroo wanted and _will_ _hang_ on that hope until its flame would have died down and the remaining pieces of it will be crushed to the ground by the evidence that the astronaut was, indeed, dead. 

Why was he doing this? That’s the question he could see burning inside Keiji’s eyes and on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t know either. Maybe because of pride. Maybe because of some patriotic duty. 

Or simply because he wished someone would still try to look for him if the situation was reversed and he was the one left for dead, seventy million kilometers away from Earth. 

Keiji sighed.

“I’ll give them to you,” he simply declared. “I kept a copy so you and I shouldn’t be bugged on why there is a missing file of the infamous day in the database.” he added, taking a file out of a big ring binder that was in one of the shelves. Akaashi slid a thick brown envelope to Kuroo.

The astronaut thanked him, and started to make his way out of the door when Akaashi’s voice echoed in his ears.

“Don’t get your hopes too high, Kuroo.”

He stopped, hand on the doorknob and turned his head to look back at the satellite planner, smirking.

“I read this quote in a book once: if a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies.” he said. “Let me add something to it. When people are missing in the damages of a natural catastrophe, people won’t stop looking for the missings, even if they need to travel dozens of kilometers to do so. I don’t get why it’ll be any different for someone who is planets and millions of kilometers away.”

  
  
  
  


Being an astronaut wasn’t an easy job. Everyday was a routine. You get up and go eat some breakfast and you immediately go training. Morning was for learning about basic space station systems and learning how to speak Russian. Then, lunch break and afternoon was for space walking and specific training for Kuroo and his other teammates, assigned for the next mission on Mars, in two years. If they weren’t doing that, they work in mission control or help scientists developing experiments that’ll continue their run in space. There were many jobs on the ground required to support the design, preparation, training and flying of a space mission. Which left Kuroo with basically little to no free time. So, studying the photos became harder than planned. When he was on the research team, a big part of his training had been put on hold to focus solely on the search of any trace of the missing astronaut.

Now, he had to take on his night time to progress. Even though he was going slower than he planned. 

Bless the fact that he was living alone, in a small apartment in the heart of the city. He didn’t need more to be honest. He was living alone, and all his days were spent at the base anyway. He really only came back here to eat dinner and sleep. And now, for research purposes. 

His living room table was filled with the satellite pictures, the wooden color and surface completely masked. Some other pictures were hanging on a glass board Kuroo had always kept in his room, and that he now moved to the living room since it was the biggest room of the apartment. 

If anyone came into his apartment right now, they would think he’s either planning an attack on the Red Planet, or that he was some kind of detective, desperately searching for any clue to resolve a murder. Or that he was a crazy scientist trying to prove aliens existed. 

No, the last part would be Oikawa.

But Kuroo was definitely, in that context, a detective.

And after three week and a half of functioning with coffee cups until three in the morning, Kuroo saw it. He _finally_ found it. His coffee cup shattered on the ground, his hand had opened under the shock, making him release his grip on the handle. A laugh escaped his lips, and he knew if someone saw or heard him right now, he surely looked like a psycho. But, really, it was only his nerves releasing all the accumulated tension of the last few weeks. He put his hands to his face, making him look like he was praying. And maybe he was, to whatever higher entity that made him notice this small detail. But a small detail that made the difference. 

He will also have to thank Keiji, who provided him the aerial pictures that were taken after their initial four days research, up until now.

Kiyoomi was alive.

  
  


“I found him.” was the first and only thing Tetsurou said to Bokuto, as he passed near him in the hallways. He had to go and see Keiji _right now_.

“Wait, what?” Bokuto only answered. When Kuroo didn’t answer to him and kept on walking, Koutarou quickly looked around before catching up to the slightly taller man. “What do you mean you found him?”

“He’s alive.” Kuroo vaguely answered, turning right and almost bumping into an engineer. He muttered an apology. It didn’t take long to Koutarou to put two and two together, and the white-haired almost stumbled on his feet and fell face first on the floor at the realization of what it implied.

“Holy shit. How can you be sure?”

The astronaut didn’t answer him and knocked on Akaashi’s door instead, not waiting for the satellite planner’s permission to invite himself inside. Bokuto followed suit and closed the door behind him. Keiji looked at both of them curiously, from behind his computer. Kuroo got photos out of the brown envelope he was holding - Koutarou hadn’t noticed before - and put two of them on the light table, which in turn, projected it to the big screen on the wall. The black haired first showed the picture entitled “sol 21”, the day of the storm. Keiji had gotten up from his seat and joined them, looking curiously at the screen, then at Tetsurou. Bokuto looked at both of them, biting his lips. 

“This is the day of the storm,” Tetsurou finally explained. Then, he removed the sol 21 picture to replace it with another one entitled “sol 34”. The picture was displaying an aerial view of the surface habitat the crew was staying in during the mission. It was three domes, connected by tunnels. Bokuto didn’t understand what was different from the two pictures. “This is thirteen days after the storm, do you notice something different?”

Bokuto shook his head. So did Keiji. He tried to analyze everything, but he really didn’t _see_ what Kuroo wanted to show them. 

“I know, I barely missed it as well. But here,” he changed the sol 34 picture for a “sol 42” one. “Look closely.”

Keiji furrowed his eyebrows. 

“The solar panels?” he asked.

Kuroo smack his fingers at him. “The solar panels.”

“What if the storm moved them, though?”

Bokuto shook his head. “If he would have shown us the sol 42 picture first, I would have thought that too. But it wasn’t there on sol 21 and 34. It’s not the storm.” He ran his two hands in his hair, messing his spiked strands. “Holy crap. He’s a _genius_.” 

Keiji had moved closer to the big screen, his eyes carefully and meticulously examining the picture, like an eagle waiting for the perfect moment to swoop on its prey. Kuroo had crossed his arms on his chest, a smile threatening to break out on his face.

“He’s trying to communicate with us?” the satellite planner asked, though it was rhetorical. “Why the solar panels?”

“It’s not simple solar panels,” Kuroo explained. He pointed at the photo. “Remember what NASA sent on Mars in 2022?”

“ _ExoMars,_ ” Akaashi answered in a breath. “But NASA lost contact with the rover in 2023. A few months before it had to come back on Earth. He digged it out since it was near their mission’s location?”

“The contact was lost because of a technical failure,” Bokuto added. He held up a finger. “A technical failure that hasn’t been able to be fixed because it needed to be repaired manually.”

“He’s trying to fix _ExoMars_?”

Kuroo nodded. “The solar panels were originally used to keep the rover in movement. Since he won’t need _ExoMars_ to move and explore, he used them to _try_ to communicate with us.” now, he was smiling. “Right now, on Mars, it’s approximately sol 54. The last pictures you gave me are from sol 50. There is no real changes from sol 42 to 50. Which leads me to this hypothesis: he took the important communication pieces from _ExoMars_ and has spent the last 20 days probably trying to fix it.”

“So he could start a communication with Earth? How?” Keiji rubbed his hands on his face.

“He’ll find a way. He’s a computer specialist, after all,” Bokuto couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “ _Holy shit!_ We need to tell the mission director.”

“No,” Kuroo shook his head. And when he saw the weird stares the two other were giving him, he added: “I’m telling the President face to face. He buried him without properly checking if he was still alive, I’m not letting him do it twice.”  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston._

_26th October 2035._

_Flight controlling room._

“He is alive.” were Kuroo’s only words. The sol 42 picture was enough proof to add to his words. He didn’t need to say more.

The room fell silent. 

“What if the storm moved them?” one of the administrator asked.

Tetsurou knew the question was coming, making him grin. “Tsukki, show the other image, please.”

The blonde scientist typed on his computer, making the sol 42 picture change for the sol 21 one. 

“This,” the astronaut pointed to the picture behind him. “was from the day of the storm.” Tsukishima changed the picture again. “And this, is twenty one days later. It has been moved.” There was a zoom on the solar panels. “Do you recognize those? It’s the solar panels that were put on _ExoMars._ He’s trying to communicate with us.”

“It’s been almost a month since the last change. How can we be sure he’s really trying to communicate?” the same administrator from earlier, asked.

“I don’t know anything about computers, I have a biology degree.” Kuroo answered.

“But I do,” the blonde piped in. “And I’ve worked with Kiyoomi before. Being able to restart - more like recreate - a whole communication system with the vestiges of a fifteen year old robot isn’t something anyone could do. But him… He’s certainly going to succeed.” 

Kuroo grinned when the President looked back at him.   
  


“Why are you doing this?” Tsukishima asked him as they left the room, on their way to grab a _much needed_ coffee.

“Hm?”

“Why are you doing this?” the blonde repeated, pushing his glasses back on his nose.

Kuroo didn’t have an answer. 

“Probably because everyone deserves at least one person still trying to fight for them when everyone else think all hope is lost.”

  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 80_

“ _This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. Hum, it’s sol 80. I think. Something like that. I didn’t check, yet. I’ve been working on trying to fix_ ExoMars _’ communication pieces. I’ve been working on it for about a month. I think… I think it can work. No, it will.” (tired smile and a nod) “I just hope NASA has understood what I was trying to do.”_

_“My wound has trouble healing properly. I don’t think it’s infected, though, so that’s at least that. If Iwaizumi was there it would have looked fresh and clean. I tried my best, I’m no doctor.” (chuckle)._

_“I’m gonna try to communicate with Earth on sol 81. So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

  
  
  
  


Kuroo was awoken from his sleep by the incessant ringing of his phone. Groaning and turning around to grab the device, he squinted his eyes because of the light, but his brows furrowed seeing the caller.

He picked the call up.

“Tsukki?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

“He did it.”

  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston._

_28th October 2035._

_2:47 am_

Kuroo came stumbling into the flight controlling room, making his glasses almost fly to the floor. Tsukishima, Akaashi and one of the President’s assistant - Wakatoshi Ushijima - were already here. He paid him no mind and immediately bent over Kei’s chair. On the computer screen was a small, rectangular window indicating _“New Message Received”_

“What are you waiting for to open it?” Kuroo asked.

But before anyone could answer him, the door of the controlling room opened once more. This time, a bunch of flight controllers and engineers entered the room, accompanied by the NASA President. But before the door closed again, familiar faces followed. It was Kuroo’s teammates - Atsumu, Shouyou, Lev and Bokuto - for the next Mars mission. Bokuto was leading them. They all looked like they were shaken out of bed, but he could see the motivation on their faces. Atsumu’s face was a mix of motivation and fear. And Tetsurou could only sympathize. The last few months were certainly a ride for the blonde haired. His brother and best friend were caught in a martian storm, said best friend was proclaimed dead. And now, Kuroo came back with the proof Sakusa was still alive, and they just received a message from him, after _months_.

Atsumu nodded at him. Kuroo smiled back.

Tsukishima clicked the message open. It was an audio file, filled with statics, but the voice coming out of the speaker was unmistakable.

“ _This is Kiyoomi Sakusa, mission specialist for_ Hermes I. _Houston, are you receiving me?”_

Atsumu gasped next to him, his hands coming to his mouth as he crouched on his knees. His eyes closed and he mumbled something Kuroo didn’t really understand but it looked like some kind of prayer. Hinata crouched down next to him with a hand on his shoulder. Administrators, engineers and flight controllers shook hands, exclaiming their relief. Kuroo felt like crying. From relief, joy… he didn’t really know. Instead, he exhaled a shaky breath as a hand was put on his shoulder. It was the President. The man nodded in his direction, before going further into the room with a few administrators and his assistant.

Kuroo was suddenly wrapped into a hug as the first tears escaped from his eyes.

“You did it.” Koutarou’s voice whispered in his ear.  
  
  


“I want engineers and communicators to evaluate the situation. We need to make sure we’ll be able to communicate with astronaut Sakusa on the long term.” Ushijima, the President assistant, declared. Him and the President came back to the crowd after a few minutes talking between them, far from the possible eavesdropping.

“We should be able to be in contact with him,” Kei immediately answered. “For now, we can only send audio recorded files. Just like he did. It won’t be a live communication, but it’ll do the work. At least for now.”

“Will we be able to hold a live conversation with him?” Hinata perked up.

“If we manage to somehow reconnect the communication system of _ExoMars_ …” Tsukishima nodded. “That might take some time but we can do it. We’ll need Kiyoomi to help from where he is, as well.”

“What if we can’t reconnect to _ExoMars_?” Atsumu quietly asked from where he was standing, near Bokuto. His arms were wrapped around him, and he looked more like a frightened and lost child than the adult he was. The white-haired rubbed a hand on the man’s back.

“We’ll reconnect.” Kuroo said, when no one else answered.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 90_

“ _This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 90. Hum, I’ve send a message to NASA on sol 81 thanks to_ ExoMars’ _old communication pieces. It reached them, so I guess I did a good job. I didn’t get any other answer apart from them telling me they were working on reconnecting to_ ExoMars. _I’ll have to do some part of the job as well, so we can hopefully communicate more or less on live time.”_

 _“I will use_ Voyager’s _low gain antenna. It’ll retransmit the signal to NASA’s Deep Space Network thanks to the wide angle of_ Voyager’s _antenna. If it doesn’t reach the DSN directly, one of the satellites would pick up the signal, and send it there. In either way, we’ll be able to communicate more easily than just sending messages…”_

 _“I’m gonna start working on connecting_ ExoMars _to_ Voyager _tomorrow. Once it’s gonna be connected, I’ll have to wait until NASA pick up the signal. When it’ll be done, we’ll be able to communicate more freely. I’ve been here for three months… I’m still not lacking anything yet per say, so I guess it’s okay… I don’t know how much time it’ll last, though. But at least I can say I grew up carrots on Mars.”_

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 112_

_“_ _This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 112. Or maybe 113 since it’s night.” (yawn) “People would think connecting up a former robot to a current spacecraft is easy. But trust me, it’s not._ Voyager _is_ always _moving. We are always able to reach the antenna, but connecting to it is the hardest part. Mostly since I’m working from a non permanent habitat or checkpoint. Once I’ll be connected, though, the hardest part of the job will be done.”_

_“Part of why I don’t go as fast as I wish I would is this.” (he got up and showed the side of his stomach, where a red, puffed wound could be seen.) “It hurts like a bitch. I tried to rest as much as I can. I don’t think it’s infected. It just hurts.”_

_“Hopefully I’ll be able to connect_ ExoMars _to_ Voyager _before reaching sol 130. If I don’t… then, we’ll see.”_

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 126_

_“Told you I would connect it before sol 130.”_

_“Now, it’s up to NASA.”_

  
  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston._

_12th December 2035._

_6:54 am_

Kuroo didn’t have time to greet his teammates and coworkers this morning. Wakatoshi came to him as soon as he entered the base. 

“Astronaut Kuroo?” the assistant asked.

“Yes?” Tetsurou answered, rather groggily. He didn’t have his coffee, yet. Let him have his coffee. 

“Astronaut and mission specialist Sakusa successfully connected to the Deep Space Network. We’ll be able to start communication with him soon.”

Kuroo felt a smile stretching on his lips. He _knew_ Sakusa would succeed.

“The President would like to discuss with you.” Ushijima added, already making his way to the office. Kuroo could only blink before following him.

“Can I, like, have a coffee first?”

Turns out he was served a coffee. And it was definitely not the same than the cheap coffee he took at the machine when he was running late in the morning. 

“Since you’re the one who proved us wrong,” the President started. “I want you to be on the communication team with Kei Tsukishima. You’ll be the one in charge of communicating with Sakusa.”

Kuroo choked on his coffee.

“I think it’s only fair that it’s the one man who found out he was still alive, that has the right to communicate with him. To be proved that someone didn’t abandon him when the rest of the world did.”

“I wasn’t alone, though,” Kuroo corrected. When the President made a question sound, Tetsurou lifted his face to look at him. “I said, that I wasn’t alone. I know Oikawa, the commander of the _Hermes I_ mission. He certainly didn’t abandon him, he just couldn’t do anything from where he was than taking the safest decision for his whole crew. I might be the one who found the evidence that Kiyoomi was still alive. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone. Although, yes, maybe I was the one believing in that tiny ray of hope the most. But you, President,” the astronaut pointed to the man dressed in a suit. “are the one who abandoned him.”   
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston._

_12th December 2035._

_7:48 am_

“We will be ready to start communication in five minutes, is everyone ready?” Tsukishima asked, his fingers raising from the speaker button to let the other communicators answer him. 

Only him and Kuroo were in one the flight directing room, Kei was here to parade any potential problems Tetsurou surely wouldn’t be able to correct by himself, and mostly to do the link with the other communicators. Whether they were at the base, or in the International Space Station. The President and Ushijima also were in the flight directing room, but further away. A woman was with them, Kuroo recognized her as Kiyoko Shimizu, a journalist and relationship manager between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. That made sense, Kuroo supposed. Sakusa, along with him and all the other Japanese astronauts were part of an exchange program between the United States and Japan, for the exploration of Mars. Japan lended staff, and so did the USA. Tetsurou didn’t have any idea of the impact that Sakusa’s disappearance had on the accord, but he could only bet it surely caused some political and economical discussions. 

“Everyone’s ready,” Tsukishima ripped him out of his thoughts. “Sakusa has already launched the system, he’s waiting for us to reply. Are you ready?”

Kuroo nodded yes. But he could feel he was starting to sweat, as he put the on the ear piece. He was stressed, anxious. For what?

It’s the sound of statics that made him jump out of skin. Kei mouthed a ‘you’re on’, and suddenly, Kuroo didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to, though.

It was tiny, distant, but it was _here._

“I guess that from the lack of statics on my part… We’re finally in contact.”

Kuroo had to put his hands in front of his mouth to stop himself from smiling. He turned to Tsukki.

“Tsukki… He can _hear_ us! And we can hear _him_!”

“I can, and unfortunately, you’re very loud. I’m sure the carrots I’ve been trying to grow felt the vibration of your voice through the ground.”

Tetsurou could feel the heat growing on his cheeks. Welp, that was embarrassing. He saw Kei roll his eyes at him. Quickly getting out of it, he huffed.

“Well. Can’t hear you, I’m Neptune-ing you out.”

He saw Tsukishima take his head in his hands, muttering a “oh my god”, but he paid him no mind. The only thing he focused on was the short, little huff he heard in his ear.

“Did you just laugh?” the astronaut grinned.

“... It’s the first joke I’ve heard in more than three months. But also, for your interest, no.” Kiyoomi replied. 

“You definitely laughed.”

He heard Sakusa sigh. “You know what, let’s lose contact again. Or give me someone else.”

“I found you and that’s how you thank me. I’m hurt.”

Silence.

Kuroo started to get worried. Did they lose contact? Did he say something he shouldn’t have? He worriedly looked at the blonde scientist. But Tsukishima only assured him they were still in contact and communicating.

But, finally, Kiyoomi’s voice reached his ear again.

“You’re the one who found me?”

It sounded faint, tired. But he could feel the surprise in Sakusa’s tone. His grin turned into a softer smile, though he knew the other couldn’t see him. He crossed his arms on his chest, and played with the chain around his neck.

“Yeah, I did,” he simply said. “Though, I didn’t know we were playing hide and seek. You were hard to find.”

“Did you go all the way to find me so I could hear your lame space jokes?”

“Hey, I’m good at jokes,” Tetsurou retorted, all previous anxiety now vanished.

“I think I need space.”

“Hey, did you just make a joke?!”

“No.”

And Kuroo heard that little huff of air again.

“Can I at least have your name?” Kiyoomi asked, when Kuroo’s laughter died down.

“Tetsurou Kuroo, lame space joker. Nice to meet you.”

  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 130_

“ _This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 130. Guess what? I successfully contacted NASA, on sol 127, woo.” (little fists wave). “Pat pat on my back, I guess…” (silence) “You know, it’s funny because… Now that I’ve contacted them, I just feel like I accomplished everything I had to. Like… I don’t know what is there to come after this. Yes, I can talk with them now… But what is it going to change? It’s not like they could really help me anyway.” (chuckle that quickly died down, then silence and a shrug.) “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Hey, at least I can listen to something else than this disco and Latino compilation Oikawa left here.”_

_(slowly spinning left to right on the chair) “NASA told me they were thinking and discussing ways to assure my survival. Okay. Even if they tried sending me supplies, it’ll take months to reach me. I guess I’ll have to ask those carrots to grow faster. I still have some biscuits we brought with the crew. Osamu was afraid we’ll lack any sort of food, so he brought and made tons. I think I owe him half of my survival on here, up until now.”_

_“I talked to that guy, when I contacted NASA. Tetsurou Kuroo. He said he’s the one who found out I was still alive…” (silence and another shrug). “You know, it somewhat feels nice knowing that someone still searched for you when everyone else thought you were already a memory. It shows that you’re not alone, somehow. He’ll be the one taking care of the communication matter with me. He sounds like a nice guy. His jokes are totally lame, though.”_

  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_24th December 2035_

_23:28 pm_

Kuroo and Bokuto were making their way out of the base, arpenting the long hallway to the main door. It was Christmas Eve, but neither had really planned anything. Bokuto had vaguely talked about getting a drink with Atsumu though.

“Do you want to join us?” Koutarou asked, as they were passing by the flight controlling room, which was empty. Kuroo unconsciously slowed down until he was fully stopping, gaze fixed on the blue door. Bokuto eventually stopped as well, and turned around when he noticed his best friend didn’t answer him. He smiled softly at the view and put his hands in his jeans pockets - they both had changed from their usual uniform. So Bokuto was now in a comfortable pair of jeans, a grey hooded jacket and his favourite pair of white sneakers instead of the _slightly_ heavy and uncomfortable NASA uniform. “Or, maybe not.” he muttered gently, turning the other way to exit the base. “Merry Christmas, dude!” he called other his shoulder.

Kuroo looked at him, confusedly, but Bokuto just throw him a peace sign with his fingers. Tetsurou just shook his head but quietly chuckled as he pushed the door open and entered the room. They were always in contact with Kiyoomi now, though they only had two to three real “conversation” per weeks, to take stock of the situation and for the astronaut to let them know if he had any difficulties. Well, more difficulties than he already had. NASA still had to take measures concerning this whole situation, and Kuroo really hope they would _hurry the fuck up._ Although, Sakusa told them he still wasn’t really lacking anything, even though he’s been stuck on a desert planet for more than a hundred and forty days. Kuroo wondered if Kiyoomi was being honest or if he was lying to not alarm anyone.

Because NASA’s communication canal wasn’t open, it didn’t mean they couldn’t receive or hear Sakusa if he was opening his. Meaning, even if Kuroo or Tsukishima weren’t talking directly, they still could hear the other astronaut if he was. And what Tetsurou heard, slowly broke his heart.

Kiyoomi had open his communication canal, and was talking to which he probably thought was the void. But Kuroo was here. So, he listened.

“- and yeah. I kind of feel alone you know,” he chuckled. “I mean, of course I feel alone, because I am. I’ve been alone for a little less than five months… Or is it six? I don’t even know.” he chuckled again. Kuroo had put his backpack down on the floor and had sat on one of the chair, near the computer and communication controls, one of his leg up on the chair, so he could rest his chin on his knee, carefully listening. 

“I don’t really know what’s the point, anymore,” Sakusa continued, unaware of Kuroo listening to him. “Like, I managed to get in contact with Earth, which is great, really… But what does it change to anything? _Hermes II_ is coming in two years, and if NASA tried to send anything it’ll take months anyway. I don’t even know what will happen in two days.” he chuckled again, but Kuroo knew it held nothing like fun or amusement in it. It was desperate. He heard Kiyoomi sigh. “I just wish I wasn’t here alone.... I’ll close the canal now, it’s not like anyone listened anyway.”

Tetsurou didn’t need to think twice to open the communication canal. “You’re not alone.”

It was silent for a few seconds, and the astronaut started to get scared he came too late and that Sakusa had already closed the communication before he could pip in.

“...Kuroo?”

Thank god.

“Yes, it’s me. Space lame joker, at your service.”

“Wait, since when are you here?” Kiyoomi asked.

“A few minutes,” Tetsurou answered. “I came when you said you were feeling alone. I didn’t want to cut you off, though. So, I just listened.”

“Well, that’s embarrassing.” the other astronaut eventually said, after a few seconds of silence.

“I don’t think it is,” Kuroo answered, honestly. “You totally have the right to feel that way. I know it’s certainly hard and it must take a toll on you… But you hanged on all this time, and I think that’s something you should be proud of.”

He heard Sakusa clear his throat, and he grinned, knowing his point must have made its impact.

“Aren’t you supposed to be home? It’s Christmas Eve, after all.” Kiyoomi wondered, changing the subject. 

“Well,” Kuroo started. Then, he thought about it. It’s true, he should be home, like everyone else. But now that he was here, he wouldn’t be anywhere else. “It’s not like I had anything planned anyway. So,” he shrugged, though the other couldn’t see him. “I’m here.”

“You should go home.”

“And leave you alone drowning in self misery? Nah,” Tetsurou retorted, grabbing his phone. “I’m here now, and I’ll stay. I hope you’re on for some Christmas spirit.”

“Wha-” 

Before Kiyoomi could answer, Kuroo successfully managed to connect his phone to one of the speakers. Hey, having a computer scientist friend teaching him stuff was put to good use. _Jingle Bells_ by Frank Sinatra started to fill the room, and Kuroo grinned proudly and he started to sway on his chair, mouthing the lyrics.

“Seriously?” Sakusa groaned.

“Come on!” Kuroo said over the music. “Bet you’re dancing right now! You can’t stay unmoving over Frank Sinatra.”

“You really put on a 1948 Christmas song? _1948_?!”

“Christmas songs are immortal!”

 _Jingle Bells_ changed to _Let It Snow_ , still by Frank Sinatra - Kuroo had the whole album on his phone -. At that, Kiyoomi _scoffed_.

“Let it snow,” he said, and Tetsurou could hear _slight_ disgust in his voice. “It’s a whole wasteland here.” 

Kuroo lowered the volume, so it was now a background sound. And slumped back on his seat, now both feet resting on the narrow space of the spinning chair he was in. 

“Can you describe Mars to me?” he asked.

He heard a hum. Then silence. And then, Kiyoomi’s voice again. The song had changed to _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ , the Sam Smith version.

“It’s red,” Sakusa finally said and Tetsurou chuckled. “Lot of sand. Hum, really dry I guess. Growing carrots is a pain.”

“You’re growing carrots?” he asked, amazed.

“Trying to would be a better term,” Kiyoomi groaned. “Osamu was the botanist, not me. It’s out of my league.”

Kuroo chuckled again, and he’s sure he heard the other huff. The song playing was now _Joy To The World_ by Nat King Cole.

“Do you only have _old_ songs?”

“It’s the best! Stop judging me.”

“Well, it’s always better than Oikawa’s latino compilation.” 

“Oh man,” Kuroo laughed. “He really listens to that? I’m disappointed. I had faith in his music taste.”

But his laugh quickly died down when the song changed to one of his personal favourite. _Last Christmas_ by Wham!.

“ _Oh my god!”_ he nearly screamed. “This is my moment.”

“Oh no.”

“Last Christmas I gave you my heart!” Tetsurou started singing, a bit out of tune, but he still did a good job. From his view, that is. “But the very next day -”

“Please, stop. Don’t embarrass yourself. Who knows who could be listening to you right now.”

“Tell me, baby. Do you recognize me?” he asked, still in tune.

“No, I don’t know you.”

“My god, I thought you were someone to rely on,” he put a hand on his chest “Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on.”

“You’re not even at that part of the song yet.” Kiyoomi pointed out. 

“It fitted your last comment on my _beautiful_ singing.” 

The song went on and ended without anymore of Kuroo’s singing. He was searching for a new song in his endless songs list, when Kiyoomi spoke again, voice small, almost shy.

“Could you, maybe, sing again?” he asked, then quickly added. “Don’t think it’s because you sing nicely, it’s just nice to hear you embarrass yourself.”

“Aw, Omi appreciates my singing. I knew you liked it.” Kuroo cooed, clicking on the next song.

“Don’t you dare calling me like that-”

“Greeting cards have all been sent.” Kuroo cut him out, voice surprisingly soft as he started singing _Merry Christmas, Darling_ from The Carpenters. “... Merry Christmas, darling. We're apart that's true...” he purposely cooed, sparing a glance at the picture of Kiyoomi, displaying on the computer screen. It was one that had been taken during the _Hermes_ mission, a few days before the storm. It must have been taken on the spot, and not planned, because Sakusa was focused, probably on one of the task he was assigned, the corner of his lips slightly quirked upside. What he was doing didn’t show on the picture. Kuroo admired the two moles adorning Sakusa’s forehead, and the way his curly black hair fell on one side of his face. His focused look gave him some kind of a serious and mysterious side. He was an handsome man. And Kuroo bet he was even more when he was fully smiling. “... I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve. I wish I were with you.” Tetsurou finished the first chorus. And as the saxophones were playing, Kiyoomi spoke.

“Are you stupid? _I_ wish I was _there,_ ” he said. And Tetsurou didn’t really know if he was talking directly to him or if was more talking to himself.

“There where?” he teased. “Here, with me?”

“Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?” Kiyoomi raised an eyebrow, but Kuroo couldn’t see him. But what the other astronaut didn’t know, and Sakusa was happy he couldn’t see, was the red blush taking place on his cheeks. As red as the Martian soil. 

And Tetsurou deadass, laughed. “You still haven’t said no, though.”

Kiyoomi just huffed.

“Is that a blush I hear?” Kuroo continued teasing. But, honestly, he was blushing too.

“... How could you possibly hear a blush? Also, absolutely not. I was just thinking about how stupid you are.”

“Hmm.”

The previous song was over for a moment now, letting place to _Happy Xmas_ by Céline Dion. Neither of them talked, just letting the silence take place. It wasn’t heavy or uncomfortable. It was, somehow, soothing. Knowing the other was still at the end of the line, though millions of kilometers apart.

“Hey, Tetsurou,” Kiyoomi called him.

“Hmm?”

And just has Céline Dion hit her high note on the second chorus of “ _a very merry Christmas_ ” Sakusa spoke again.

“Merry Christmas.”

And when Kuroo checked the time on his phone, he saw it was midnight and thirty seven minutes. Meaning it was midnight on Mars. He smiled softly.

“Merry Christmas, Kiyoomi.” 

  
  
  


**_USA TODAY !SPECIAL EDITION!_ **

_BREAKING NEWS: ASTRONAUT KIYOOMI SAKUSA STILL ALIVE. CONTACT WITH EARTH HAS BEEN MADE. STILL WAITING FOR NASA PRESIDENT SPEECH ON TAKEN MEASURES. p3_

_How astronaut Kiyoomi Sakusa was proven alive. p15_

_Mission accords with Japan broken? p23_

_What future for the Mars exploration mission? p26_

  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_27th December 2035_

_Flight controlling room_

“You know all America only talk about you?” Tetsurou said to Kiyoomi. “Probably Japan too.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. You’re a celebrity, man.”

“Glad to know I’m famous. Maybe they’ll raise a funding pot to come and get me.” he said, sarcastically.

Kuroo sighed, they still hadn’t any news from the superiors, it was starting to get unnerving.

“They could at least talk about me.” Tetsurou muttered, trying to ease the atmosphere.

“Sorry, can’t hear you over my fame.”

Tetsurou took credit and pride when he heard Kiyoomi’s chuckle following his own laugh.

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 160_

_“This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 160. Whoever find this better keep it preciously, because I’m a celebrity apparently.” (sigh) “Thirty days without any news from NASA. Hello? I’m still here, you know.” (rubs hand on his face) “I told them I didn’t lack anything but…” (turns around then back at the camera) “Those fucking carrots are not an easy task. Really, I’m just eating dirt.”_

_“It’s honestly pissing me off. I just want to break something. I hate this planet.”_

_“What a tragedy. Doomed to spend the rest of your days on a red wasteland, alone.”_

  
  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_11th January 2036_

_12:37pm_

“This is unnerving, tiresome, a fucking pain in his ass.” Kuroo growled, throwing his fork in his lunch tray and putting his head in his hands, muffling his scream.

Bokuto looked as angry as him, the only thing he could do to comfort his friend was put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s been a fucking month,” Kuroo added.

“I know. Trust me, I’m as pissed as you.”

“I’ll go and talk to him myself if I have to.” Tetsurou said, standing up from his chair. He stopped when Ushijima entered the lunch area.

“The President wants to have a discussion with you,” the man said. “Bring astronaut Bokuto with you. Miya, Hinata and Haiba are already there.”

“Thank god, _finally_.” he groaned.  
  


“We came to the conclusion of sending astronaut Sakusa a space probe to deliver enough supplies for him to survive until _Hermes II_ ’s arrival.” the President said.

Kuroo was fuming. A month to come to _this_?

“Are you shitting me?”

“Excuse me?”

“You took a _whole month_ to decide to send supplies?” he repeated. And he would have stood up from his chair if Bokuto hadn’t put a hand on his shoulder.

“It hasn’t been an easy decision, astronaut,” the President said, hardly. “I suggest you watch your tone.”

“Do you know how long he’s been waiting out there? What if he’s already missing supplies but he doesn’t tell us?”

“He assured us he wasn’t.” Wakatoshi piped in.

“But what if he wasn’t telling the truth?” Tetsurou retorted. “He thinks that you abandoned him,” he pointed to both men. “That we all abandoned him. That he’s alone. What do you think he’s feeling right now?”

Silence.

“If I hadn’t found him,” he added, spitting venom. “You would have let him die out there without even checking twice.”

He stood up and grabbed his stuff, turning one last time before exiting the room.

“It better fucking work.”  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 165_

_“This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 165. (sigh) “What to say… NASA finally came to a conclusion about my situation. They’re sending me a space probe with enough supplies for me to last until_ Hermes II. _Yay. One more year to be stuck here. I don’t know what I hoped.” (dry chuckle)_

_“The only moment I don’t feel alone is when I get in contact with Tetsurou. So, I guess I’m still grateful for that. Though he seemed… a bit distant the last few days.” (shrug) “He must have other things to do than lose time with a lost cause like mine, anyway.”_

_“NASA will launch the probe in two days. And it’ll take several months to get there. So… Let's hope.”_

  
  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_18th January 2036_

_9:08 am_

_Flight controlling room_

“Launch ready, waiting for orders,” one of the flight directors from the Kennedy Space Center said through the intercom.

“Ready to launch in two minutes.”

That was the longest two minutes of Kuroo’s life. He could feel the tension all around him, from his teammates, to the engineers, to the President himself.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Liftoff!”

The shuttle skyrocketed into the air with a deafening sound. It ascended and ascended, until it was only a luminous dot in the sky. Kuroo didn’t pay attention to the directions that were given. The only thing he could think off was: it _worked_.

But the joy only lasted during the blink of an eye. 

Seventy three seconds. It’s the amount of time the probe stayed in the air before exploding.

Kuroo’s ears ringed. 

  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_18th January 2036_

_10:32 pm_

“The launch failed,” Tetsurou said, after a few minutes of silence. “It exploded seventy three seconds after liftoff,” he explained. “A failed joint or something.”

Kiyoomi sighed. “It is what it is.”

“How can you say that? It’s upsetting.”

“Getting upset is pointless,” he sighed. “It doesn’t really matter anyway.”

Kuroo gritted his teeth, his hands balling into fists. He tried to calm his fuming heart by taking subtle breaths. In, and out.

“Hey,” Kiyoomi said. “Do you have any music?”

The astronaut numbly reached for his phone, opening his music app.

“What do you say about _Claire de Lune_?” he proposed.

“Go on.”

Soft piano notes engulfed the room. The atmosphere depicted by the song should be serene. But instead, it felt heavy, sorrowful, filled with unsaid words and regrets. Millions kilometers away from Kuroo, Sakusa slumped down in his chair, resting the back of his head on the backrest, the grey blanket he loosely wrapped around his bare and skinny torso falling off one of his shoulders. His wound hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pain squeezing his heart and body as he looked out at the red, unlimited barren landscape from one of the habitat window. 

Unaware of Kiyoomi’s own internal struggle, Kuroo stared down at his fisted, trembling hands. 

When the song ended, he swallowed.

“Goodnight, Kiyoomi,” he said, finger overing the disconnect button.

“Goodnight, Tetsurou.” the other answered, unmoving his gaze from the Martian landscape.

The astronaut pushed the button off, stood up, flipped the lights off, and exited the room without another word, letting the door shut soundly behind him.

Seventy millions kilometers away, the first tears started to fall on Kiyoomi’s face. He straightened up, pushing the pain on the side of his stomach away as he took his head in his hands. His tears now a waterfall down his face. He wished he could stop them. He didn’t want to cry. But he’s so scared. Scared and alone. He’s faced with his inevitable death, that is staring down at him with a manic smile, pointing down at him and waiting for him to reach his breaking point. His chest hurts, and he’s hiccuping now. So hard it’s starting to hurt to breath.

He’s going to die here. Alone. 

That night, Tetsurou Kuroo does not eat. Tetsurou Kuroo does not sleep. Instead, he lies awake and thinks of _Claire de Lune_ and the martian with delicate black curls.

  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_28th January 2036_

_3:41 pm_

Koutarou Bokuto was worried. His best friend was unwell. He didn’t say anything, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been _observing_. Kuroo wasn’t focused like he used to be. Whenever Bokuto would look at him, the other would be lost in thoughts, staring into the void. The only thing that proved that he was still conscious was the constant spinning of his pen on his fingers. He was so unfocused that it impacted his results during the space simulation exercises. And mostly, what worried Koutarou the most, were the growing dark circles under Tetsurou’s eyes. And the fact that he never touched his tray of food during lunch anymore.

Bokuto couldn’t stay silent anymore. It wasn’t his best friend he saw every day, now. It was someone pretending to be his best friend. So, before going to their specific training, he grabbed Kuroo aside. The other astronaut just let himself being pushed to the side of the hallway.

Kuroo wasn’t even looking at him, gaze fixed somewhere behind the spiky-haired shoulders. Bokuto sighed.

“You know,” he started, measuring his words carefully. But it was probably the only way to get Kuroo’s attention. “They’re going to remove you from the _Hermes II_ exploration mission if you keep this up.”

That had the anticipated effect, since Kuroo’s eyes _finally_ settled on him.

“What?” was he croaked out answer, as if he hadn’t use his voice in the last few days.

“What’s going on with you?” Bokuto asked, harshly. But he needed to knock some sense into the man in front of him. 

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not!” Koutarou growled. “Whatever you’re doing, right now. Keep it up and they're going to replace you as a commander without even thinking twice! Is that what you want? You want to be substitute so bad you’re killing every efforts you’ve worked so hard for during the past years?!”

“What’s the point of making efforts if everything just keeps _failing_?!” Kuroo growled, _screamed_ back. ”Everything just falls apart right in front of your eyes, and the only thing you can do is witness it. Someone is hurting, scared and alone and the only thing you can do is stream on some fucking Claude Debussy because you’re just _stuck_ here! And no one seems to be fucking concerned about it.” he spat the last sentence with so much resentment and venom laced to his words that Bokuto had to take a step back, like the words pushed him by their force. He stared at Kuroo, wide eyed.

But it seems that Kuroo had reached his breaking point, both mentally and physically, because the next moment, his back hurt the wall behind him and he slowly sank on the floor, in a crouching position. Like a terrified child, trying to make himself as tiny as possible, to not be seen by the object of his fear. His breath came as ragged, and heavy hot tears started to stream down his face. He ran his hands through his hair, messing even more the already mess of raven strands, gripping it so tightly it must hurt.

People were starting to stare, mumbling and whispering between them. Bokuto glared at them, and walked closer to the broken man, hiding him from the view with his body. He swallowed. He didn’t know what to say. Though, no matter what he would say, it wouldn’t make Kuroo feel better. He knew that. His best friend was hurt far beyond where Koutarou could still reach him. The only thing he could do was to ground him, and hoping it’ll stop him from getting lost in his own mind. So, as softly as he could, he untangled Tetsurou’s hands from his hair, wincing when he saw strands in between the man’s fingers. One of Kuroo’s hand gripped the collar of Bokuto’s jacket. Tight, as if holding a lifeline, trying desperately not to sink. His phalanxes were white. Kuroo’s other hand fell limp on his knees, but Koutarou gripped it, as tight as he could without hurting the other man. 

“Keiji told me to not get my hopes too high.” Tetsurou mumbled, between two hiccups and rounds of tears.

Bokuto squeezed his hand.

A ragged, unsteady breath. “And he was right.”  
  


**USA TODAY**

_AFTER SPACE PROBE LAUNCH FAIL, WHAT FUTURE FOR ASTRONAUT KIYOOMI SAKUSA? p5_

_NASA President keeping silence on new measures taken. p8_

_“Bring Him Home!”, what you need to know about the growing movement. p17_

**_THE NEW YORK TIMES_ **

_IS NASA ABANDONING HIS LOST ASTRONAUT? Details of the tragic story of the_ Hermes _exploration mission and astronaut Kiyoomi Sakusa disappearance. p15_

**_THE WALL STREET NEWS_ **

_ECONOMICAL IMPACT OF NASA’S FAILED MARS EXPLORATION MISSION_ HERMES. p6

 _WHAT PROSPECTS FOR NASA’S FUTURE MISSIONS AND PROJECTS?_ p20

  
  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_4th February 2036_

_10:57 pm_

_Flight controlling room_

Tetsurou and Kiyoomi still communicated. Sakusa had to keep NASA updated on his situation. Concerning the other way around and NASA’s solutions, though…

It wasn’t always Kuroo that held the communication process. Most of the times, during the last weeks, it has been Tsukishima. Although, Kuroo always come into the flight directing room. He just wasn’t talking. Simply listening, like a shadow lurking in the room. When he was the one talking to Kiyoomi, and when they were simply the two of them - which basically happened all the time - conversations were filled with long pauses and more tension. Both of them didn’t know what to say. So, instead, they just listened to music. Kuroo’s playlist. He made one especially for when he was talking with Kiyoomi. 

At first, the songs were light, fun, free. It was songs like _Walk Like A Man_ , from the Four Seasons, _I Want It That Way_ and _Take On Me_ . Dancing to _All Night Long_ from Lionel Richie and _September_ from Earth, Wind and Fire. Kuroo silly karaokés on _Come And Get Your Love_ by Redbone, _Hooked On A Feeling_ by Blue Swede or _I’ve Had The Time Of My Life_ and talking how _Dirty Dancing_ was a _must be seen_ classic movie, no matter how old it is. Kuroo stopped counting the amount of time Kiyoomi complained about his music taste, and his _old_ songs. Now, the playlist was filled with various loops of _Claire de Lune_ , _Adagio for Strings_ , this song Kuroo found called _Mars_ , ironically. _You Rock My World_ from Michael Jackson, that appeared at some kind of inside joke between the two of them had been replaced by _You Are Not Alone,_ instead.

Oh, how Kuroo wished it was true. Whenever the song would stream, Tetsurou would hear a faint scoff when the first lyrics were heard. Yes, he thought the same. 

As _Watching For Comets_ by Skillet began, Kiyoomi spoke.

“You should just forget about me.” he simply said, and disconnected the canal.

 _You were a comet, and I lost it_.

How ironic, indeed.

  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 187_

_“This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 187. Hey, guess what. I’ve reached the six months stuck on this shitland. Cheers and congrats to me.”_

_“I don’t have anything to say. Carrots are doing partially fine. So, let’s see how many more days I can still survive here. It’s not like I can do anything else, anyway.”_

_“No news from NASA.” (shrug) “Shame, I could give them my secret carrot growing miracle.”_

  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_9th February 2036_

_11:05 am_

“The President will do a speech in a few days, regarding the Mars situation.” Bokuto said, breaking the silence.

Kuroo look up from his Russian book, sliding his falling glasses back on his nose and looking at him questioningly. Koutarou just shrugged.

“I don’t know more. I just know he’s gonna make some public or live speech. I wonder what he’s going to announce, though.”

Kuroo sighed and looked back at his textbook. “Hey remember that lost astronaut on Mars? Well, I don’t give a shit about him. And our probe launch failed last time so now I don’t have to think about any more solutions, because, did I tell you how much a rescue mission - when I already have the next exploration one planned - would cos-” Tetsurou stopped mid-sentence.

Bokuto raised an eyebrow at his best friend, when the other man turned his head to look at him wide eyed. “You okay, dude?”

“ _Hermes II_.” Tetsurou simply said, his gaze going unfocused as he started to mumble incoherent words to Bokuto’s ears.

“Yes _Hermes II_ …” Koutarou trailed off, unsure. “That’s the name of our mission. What’s wrong?”

“We could get him back with _Hermes II._ ” Kuroo got up from his chair, slowly. He put one of his hand on his mouth, and the other on his hip.

“We still have a little bit over a year before _Hermes II_ ,” Bokuto explained, careful of his words. He didn’t want a repeat of last time. “Even if we wanted to-”

“Everything is already working for the launch to come right? For _Hermes_ , I mean.”

“Well, from what Atsumu told me - since he became friend with one of the aerospace engineers - everything is operational. The waiting lapse before launch is only so _Hermes I_ can come back before we liftoff. Where are you going with this?”

“I need a talk with the headquarters.” Kuroo only said, before running out of the room. 

  
  


Kuroo had good manners, he swears he does. But he sent a big fuck you to the “knock and wait for permission to enter” rule his dad taught him when he was a kid and flew the door of the NASA’s Administrator - in other words, NASA’s President, director, whatever. Kuroo thinks he has too many names for the useless work he does - office.

The man looked at him with wide eyes as Tetsurou took long strides until he was in front of his desk, slamming his hand on him. “Astronaut -”

“We can save him.”

“What?”

“We can save Kiyoomi,” Kuroo repeated. His eyes held a newfound flame. “We can save him with _Hermes II._ ”

“Do I have to remind you _Hermes II_ is not scheduled for another year?” the director said, warily. If looks could kill, Kuroo would lay on the floor. But so would the President. 

“Do I have to remind you what people are thinking of you, right now?” Kuroo growled. “Do I need to read you all the articles one by one?”

“I can’t just take a decision on the spot! Do you know how much -”

“I don’t give a shit about how much money you’ll lose over this!” Tetsurou snarled, his hands flying to the man’s shirt collar, gripping, yanking his shocked face closer to his, so he could look him in the eyes. “There’s a man dying on a hostile planet because you didn’t take the necessary precaution for your mission, and you abandoned him here. Money won’t replace his life.”

The astronaut violently released him. If he stayed a second more in this room, he wouldn’t answer for his actions. So, as guards came running into the office, he turned one last time to look at the director’s face.

“You better take the fucking right decision, for once.”

  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 190_

_“I’m getting tired of this introduction, not gonna lie.” (sigh) “This is Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook. It’s sol 190.” (silence) “What can I say. Same old. I’m keeping busy growing carrots until my countdown reach zero. How to grow carrots on Mars, a guide by yours truly.”_

_“I talked to Kuroo yesterday. He seemed… motivated. He didn’t tell me for what. We don’t really talk anymore, you know? Like, we just listen to some songs, and that’s it. Yesterday, though, he came back to our more… funky songs. Those really old ones he always sings to. And his voice… I don’t know, something good must have happened. He sounded lighter, hopeful. Maybe he’s being promoted or something.” (an ironic smile) “Or maybe someone announced him he wouldn’t have to stay late at night anymore to make conversation to the guy stuck on Mars without any ticket back home.”_

  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_13th February 2036_

_1:18 pm_

At exactly seven in the morning, Wakatoshi Ushijima was waiting for Kuroo, at the entrance of the base. Tetsurou first thought he was in deep shit, remembering his selfless act from three days ago. But, when the assistant only asked him to be present in the meeting room at one in the afternoon, Kuroo could only grin.

Though, he felt only the _slightest_ intimidated when he entered the room, and ended up surrounded by _officials_ and senior officers. Kuroo was trained to go to space, not spending hours enclosed in a room with people to discuss business. It better be quick.

The President looked at him, from the other side of the round table.

“So,” he began. “Astronaut Kuroo. Three days ago, you came _rudely_ to my office to ask - no, _order_ me, to organize a rescue mission, in order to save the astronaut Kiyoomi Sakusa.”

“That you left on Mars, tossing him aside without a second thought the moment your “survival strategy” failed, yes.” 

“Watch your tone, young man.” one of the officials threatened.

Tetsurou rolled his eyes.

“Expose your idea.” Ushijima asked.

Kuroo crossed his arms over his chest and rested his back against the leather chair. “Launch the _Hermes II_ for a rescue mission.”

“Are you insane? We can’t do that. _Hermes_ isn’t scheduled to liftoff so soon.”

“ _Poseidon_ is still on his way back to Earth, anyway. If we even did it, how will you go on Mars.”

“And how are we sure that astronaut Sakusa is still alive?”

Tetsurou glared at the man. He saw him squirm on his seat under the intensity of his hazel gaze. “Because _I_ talk to him at least three times a week. He is _alive_. But he’s _surviving_. He’s been doing so for the last six months. _Six months._ In a habitat that was planned for thirty one days. So, if you don’t take a _real_ decision soon…” 

Kuroo wasn’t just angry anymore. He was _pleading._ Because it wasn’t something that he could do by himself, and it _killed_ him.

“It’s already a miracle he survived so far…” one of the officers mumbled.

 _Because he still have hopes you’ll fucking bring him home, you assholes._ Kuroo thought. _But if you don’t take a decision_ now _… The flame is already dying. The littlest wave of air could blow it, so_ please. _Please._

He clenched his hands into fists, his teeth gritted. “What do you think will happen with your partnership with Japan if you let one of its astronaut dying because you were more afraid about money than moral?”

Ushijima stopped writing on his notebook. He lifted his face, slowly, to look at Tetsurou. “Will you let one of your own die for the sake of money?” that’s what Kuroo’s eyes said. The assistant left the astronaut’s gaze to look at the director, next to him, instead.

“I think it’s an option we should consider,” he announced. “ _Poseidon_ still has a thirty days trip back to Earth… I think it’s doable.”

“What about _Hermes II_ pre-flight safety inspections?!” shouted one of the senior officers. “What about the transport shuttle?!”

“Everything has already been inspected and validated so we could still confirm the beginning of mission _Hermes II_ starting 2037.”

“It’s changing the whole purpose of an exploration mission to transform it into a rescue one, we’re talking about. And to launch it before the initial date on top of that!” the man screamed, outraged. 

“I firmly believe, that a human life matters more than research purposes. I was just too blind until someone opened my eyes.” Ushijima said, and his tone made his decision _final._

Kuroo smirked at that. Deep down, though, he wanted to cry. 

There was still hope.

The President looked around the table, and his gaze settled on Kuroo. He took a breath.

“I hope your crew won’t mind the change of plans.”

“Oh don’t worry, we were about to come and argue until you accept, anyway. But apparently you didn’t need us.” a voice said, from the end of the room.

Tetsurou turned around, and he couldn’t hold back the laugh that escape his mouth when he saw his crewmates, crowded at the door in some sort of head stairs. Hinata was at the bottom, above him was Atsumu, then Bokuto and finally, Lev - that kid certainly was _tall._

“Ya bet yer ass we don’t mind.” Atsumu added, then, looked at Tetsurou. “So, commander, when do we liftoff?”

“I think there’s still some details to be discussed, though.” Lev piped in.

“Yeah, like the pretty much immediate exchange on the _Poseidon_ between our crew and Oikawa’s.” Bokuto said.

“We’ll need a perfect timing,” Shouyou approved. “But I know it’ll work.” he smiled.

And Kuroo could not _not_ smile back.

The flame of hope now blazed a little brighter.   
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_13th February 2036_

_11:00 pm_

_Flight controlling room_

There was no music, this time, to accompany his words, as Kuroo opened the communication canal.

“Kiyoomi?” he asked, tentatively.

He knew the last few days were spent in relatively tense and heavy silences, because both of them knew what was probably bound to happen, and they didn’t want to acknowledge it. But now… Now there was a new hope. And Kuroo will cling to it.

“Damn,” came his faux surprised voice. “You’re still coming here? They didn’t replace you or something?”

Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows. “Nah, sorry but you’re stuck with me. I found you, remember?”

Kiyoomi huffed, but it wasn’t because he was laughing this time. It was more… detached… desperate. “Yeah, you found me. Won hide and seek.”

Tetsurou gulped. 

“One hundred and fifty four.”

“Excuse me?”

“One hundred and fifty four days,” he repeated. “Please hang on one hundred and fifty four days.”

Maybe a little less if they can increase the _Poseidon_ ion propulsion system. But if they fail, it’ll throw away ten years of spacecraft building into pieces. And them inside. So, maybe it wasn’t really a project they should stick to.

“Why are you telling me this?” Kiyoomi asked, and Kuroo heard him sigh. A tired, long exhale of breath. “What would the point be?”

“Please,” Tetsurou _implored_ , feeling the hot sensation of tears gathering in his eyes. “Please, Omi, hang in there for one hundred and fifty four more days.”

“Why?” a tired, lost, voice, filled with despair, whispered.

“Because I’m coming for you.”

  
  
  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 195._

_“Kiyoomi Sakusa’s logbook, sol 195.” (he crossed his arms on the desk, making the NASA sweater he was wearing seem too big on him) “I actually waited five days to do this… because I think I needed to guarantee myself it really happened.” (he passed his calloused hands on his face, but stayed silent.) “This asshole…” (he bit his lips, and gulped when tears pooled at the corner of his eyes. He rested his chin in the palm of his left hand. Silence)_

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 205._

_“He’s really coming.” (chuckle)_

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 210._

_“I still don’t get why he’s doing that, though.” (silence)_

_“But I want to hope again.”_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Johnson Space Center, Houston_

_13th March 2036_

_11:03 pm_

_Flight controlling room_

When the first notes of _Claire de Lune_ began, Tetsurou spoke.

“Hey, Omi?”

The other made a humming noise.

“We’re lifting off tomorrow. And we’re coming to get you, and bring you back home.”

“... Why are you doing all of this?” Kiyoomi asked. Again, because it wasn’t the first time. But Kuroo never gave him an answer.

_Because I…_

“Because you’re worth fighting for.”

He wasn’t really pleased with the answer, but he’ll take it for now.

“Hey, Tetsurou?”

“Hm?”

“You know what I look like, since you have access to my file,” the astronaut started. “but I don’t know about you. How do you look like?”

Kuroo grinned. “Wait one hundred and twenty five days. And you’ll see.”

Kiyoomi huffed, and Tetsurou laughed.

  
  
  


**_USA TODAY_ **

_BREAKING NEWS!_ HERMES II _SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED AND ENTERED ORBIT! p3_

HERMES II: _HOW THE INITIAL MARS EXPLORATION OPERATION BECAME A RESCUE MISSION. p7_

Everything you need to know about the _Hermes_ crews. p10

Huge round of cheers and applause from people in the streets to accompany _Hermes II_ liftoff _. p21_

**_THE NEW YORK TIMES_ **

HERMES II _LIFTOFF SECONDS AFTER_ HERMES I _CREW RETURNED_. p5

Tetsurou Kuroo, the man behind the discovery. p8

Tooru Oikawa, mission commander of _Hermes I_ asks commander Kuroo to “bring everyone back home, safe” and expresses support. p12

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_124 days from Mars_

“I connected Kiyoomi’s _ExoMars_ radio to the _Poseidon._ You might experience a delay, since it’s reaching the Deep Space Center and only then we’re sending it back to you,” Tsukishima’s voice explained, from the intercom. “Keiji will relay the aerial images of the hab, they’ll appear directly on your board screen.”

“Thanks, Tsukki.” Tetsurou said, before closing the canal. He slumped back in his seat, losing his gaze on his screenboard. Every useful informations about their position was displayed on it, and if a problem were to happen, it was Bokuto’s job to fix it so they won’t end up lost in the depths of space because the _Poseidon_ will drift from his initial path.

He was actually in the spinning platform - the rotating gravity segment - of the _Poseidon_ , the only place in the spacecraft with gravity - though it was artificial. They didn’t feel the spinning motion of the quarters, of course. If they weren’t in the same area, the crew talked via the private _Poseidon_ communication system, only for them to hear. Bokuto certainly wasn’t far, checking every data to make sure everything was in order. It was his job as the pilot, even if the trajectory has to be determined computationally. Atsumu was their flight surgeon, and knowing him, Kuroo was certain the one half of the Miya twins was locked up in the “infirmary”, thinking about every possible wound he might have to treat once they’ll get Kiyoomi on board. Shouyou and Lev were both scientists, specialized in geology and chemistry, respectfully. And they were surely in other areas of the _Poseidon_ , just floating because of the lack of gravity and taking care of their tasks.

Kuroo was shaken out of his thoughts by statics, coming from the communication canal.

“Everything is in order,” Koutarou said. “We just have to let it flow, now.”

“Great,” Tetsurou answered. “Get Atsumu out of his bandaids and scalpel, and everyone join me in the main room.”

  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 226_

_“It’s been… twenty six days, they’ve liftoff. Soon to be a month. Tetsurou insists on giving me weekly updates of the number of days they’ve been flying.” (he pointed to the habitat wall behind him, where a series of number were displayed in black pen marker) “As if I wasn’t counting already, asshole.”_

_(Wincing, he put a hand to his side, and exhaled, slowly)_

_(Now only wearing a grey blanket around his shoulders, exposing his scrawny torso) “It still feel like a dream. That someone is actually coming back. I still don’t believe it.”_

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_71 days from Mars_

“In what state do you think we’ll find him?” Atsumu asked, his face turned towards the starry space void outside of the spacecraft, surrounding them. The side of his cup of coffee was resting on his thigh thanks to his propped up legs onto the white table. His hands were cupped around it, keeping it in place so it wouldn’t fall.

Bokuto lifted his eyes from the card game he was playing with Lev and Shouyou- who also worriedly observed each other - and looked over to the surgeon, before shooting a glance at Kuroo. The commander was in pretty much the same sitting position as Atsumu, except for the fact that his coffee mug was put on the table. His gaze, also transfixed through the window.

“In the state of a man that experienced loneliness and despair.” was his simple answer.

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 253_

_(Cough and groan) “It’s sol… 253.” (sigh) “Half of the carrots are ruined… More than half. ‘got a problem with the whole greenhouse arrangement. I saved as much as I could.”_

_“I’m so tired…” (runs a hand through his curly hair) “I’m so_ tired.”

“ _I think my wound got infected.” (laugh, head falling loosely ahead) “Just my luck_.”

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_65 days from Mars_

Kuroo came down to the rotating gravity segment after taking care of his daily tasks - making sure everything was in order and record a logbook to deliver to NASA. He sighed, glad to feel the floor under his feet, and stretched. His back popped and he groaned in relief. He made his way to the kitchen part to grab something to eat, when he noticed Koutarou and Atsumu, standing side by side and looking at the space sky. Bokuto had his arms crossed over his chest and was talking about something Tetsurou couldn’t hear from where he was, and the surgeon was looking at him, a smile resting on his face.

The commander moved to the control board near the counter, glancing at the two to check if they had noticed him. They hadn’t. He opened the music files of the _Poseidon_.

Bokuto and Atsumu both flinched as _I Can’t Help Falling In Love_ by Elvis Presley streamed from the _Poseidon’s_ speakers. They turned to look at him. Bokuto glared at the commander, who was swinging exaggeratedly slow to the music while Atsumu’s smile became shier and he averted his gaze and took a sip of his coffee, eyes not leaving the window in front of him.

Kuroo grinned.

“Kuroo, not your old songs again!” Hinata screamed from his slope on the ladder leading to their gravity segment. 

_Would it be a sin_

_If I can't help falling in love with you?_

  
  
  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_54 days from Mars_

“Okay, so, I need everyone to repeat how we’ll get him out of Mars,” Kuroo said, to both the crew and Tsukishima and Akaashi, through intercom. “And I need every possible scenarios.”

“Sakusa said back at sol 100 that the storm hadn’t damaged the rover. And that he fixed the slight casualties,” Keiji said. “That means the rover is operational and he can drive to the site were the Mars Ascent Vehicle, supposed to be used for _Hermes II,_ is located.”

“That’s our main scenario,” Bokuto added. “I can pilot the MAV from the _Poseidon_ , and we’ll just have to grab him when the cabin will attach to the _Poseidon_.”

“What if something fucks up on that part?” Atsumu asked. “How will we get him inside?”

“We’ll need to get him from the hatch,” Lev said. “He’ll need to eject from the ascent vehicle and we’ll just grab him from there.”

“Though we won’t have to come to that, right?” Hinata quietly asked. “We’ll reach Mars’ orbit with the _Poseidon_ … the MAV is made to come to the _Poseidon_.”

“That’s just an in case scenario, Shouyou.” Bokuto assured the orange-haired. 

“And what if… he can’t reach the MAV location?”

Everyone was silent. Maybe because they didn’t know. Maybe because they were too afraid to think about the answer.

“Then, I’ll go down and get him.” 

They all looked at Kuroo, who in turn looked at them, a determined fire burning in his eyes.

  
  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_51 days from Mars_

Kuroo noticed. He noticed how gradually quiet Kiyoomi got during their communications. He noticed how tired, how furred and dry his voice sounded. The rumbles coming from his throat he tried so hard to muffle. 

The commander could feel the lump in his own throat growing thicker and thicker, until it was knotted so tight he felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore.

“Kiyoomi.” he called the other man, as softly as he could.

That rumble again, like he was clearing his throat. Then a croaked out “yeah?”

“What’s happening to you?” Tetsurou asked, fiercely, scared. Yet, he hoped the gentleness underlying his tone could still be perceived. 

A sharp intake of breath, a shaky exhale.

“How many days?” Sakusa asked.

“Don’t change the subject, what is going on-”

“Just answer my question!” the other nearly snarled. But it was more bark than bite, too weak.

“Fifty one,” Kuroo eventually answered. “Now, answer me.”

He heard Kiyoomi exhaling through his nose, battling with his own mind to know if he shall say the truth or lie, keep lying.

“I have this wound, had it since I woke up after the storm. Something sharp stabbed me during it, when I got ejected, I don’t know or remember what it was,” he explained, and Tetsurou felt his eyes widening, and his ears ringing for a few seconds. “I treated it with the basics I knew. But I think it got infected.”

Kuroo wanted to speak, but no sound left his mouth. Kiyoomi continued.

“My made up greenhouse blew up like a fucking firework,” he dryly chuckled. “It’s a miracle I didn’t blow with it or that the whole hab didn’t suck out all the oxygen. There is _nothing_ left, Tetsurou. You hear me? Nothing. And I’m so fucking tired. I feel so _weak_ I’m -”

“Kiyoomi,” Tetsurou cut him off. “Omi, just fifty one more days. A month and a half, baby, _please_. Hang on.”

“What’s even the point, Tetsurou,” Sakusa said, worn out after the coughing fit he just had. “It’s a lost cause from the start.”

Kuroo only noticed the tears streaming down his face when Kiyoomi disconnected his canal.

  
  
  


_Mars_

_Sol 303_

_“You know...I feel like I should be having some kind of… important, far reaching deathbed eyes opening. Like the fact that I’m going to die here and there will be no trace of a body to return back home. That I’ll never get to know what it feels like to step foot on Earth after months spent floating in space. That I won’t experience the late night talks and stupid card games we were playing every night again. This one is for my mom: that I’ll never get married. I’ll never have that sappy bullshit great ceremony, exchanging vows and then going to a community center and have crappy songs to dance to all night long. That I’ll never eat pickled plums again. Atsumu won’t bother me to go and grab coffee at ungodly hours… That I’ll never go back home.”_

_“But I think the only sort of revelation I had is how badly I want to fucking live.” (chuckles with tears streaming down his face) “I don’t want to die.” (hides one side of his face in one of his hands, tears still falling) “Not here. Not now. Just a little more time. Another day...”_

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_Mars orbit_

Kuroo couldn’t take his eyes off the view in front of him. Mars. The Red Planet was looking back at him, somewhat feeling inviting. But Tetsurou knew how unfriendly the planet truly was. They did it. They were in Mars orbit. They were minutes away from taking Kiyoomi back home.

Except they couldn’t reach him. 

“Please, Omi-omi.” Atsumu whispered next to him, desperately trying to get in contact with the astronaut.

“Did you manage to make contact?” Kei asked, through intercom.

NASA was listening to them. The world was listening to them. With a delay, but still on edge. Just like they were themselves.

“He’s not answering,” Bokuto answered, anxiously biting at his nails. “I can’t do anything until he has answered.” he added, looking back at Kuroo.

Atsumu exhaled shakily. “Omi, are you receiving me? We’re here to get you. Are you receiving me?”

“ _ExoMars_ is still connected. He should be able to answer.” Tsukishima supplied.

“Do you think something happened?” Lev asked.

Kuroo got up from his spot, not sparing a last glance at his crew as he made his way to the space suit closet.

“What are you doing?” Bokuto asked.

“I’m going to get him. Get the descent vehicle ready to takeoff.” 

  
  
  
  


_Mars_

Tetsurou couldn’t breath. And it wasn’t because the Mars Descent Vehicle landed, a few meters away from the habitat where the _Hermes I_ crew resided during their mission. Where Kiyoomi _survived_ for three hundred and four martian days. Bokuto had done his best for him to not land too far, as he wouldn’t have been able to walk and support the climate for so long, otherwise.

The Mars atmosphere _certainly_ wasn’t the same as Earth’s. It was more heavy, even with his specialized biosuit, Kuroo could feel it. But the only thing he could focus on, anyway, was that Kiyoomi was close, _so close_. Only a few more meters. 

And finally, _finally_ , after taking his last onerous, heavy steps - like someone was trying to physically slower him - he reached the habitat main airlock. As he entered, the systems immediately regulated the temperature and the oxygen. Once he was sure it was safe, Kuroo got rid of his helmet - after informing Bokuto and the NASA that he got in - and head protection, leaving his hair in a mess. 

And so was the hab…

Tetsurou could definitely see the area arrangement Kiyoomi had created to try and grow some supplies - the infamous carrots -. But now, it was a disaster zone. The plastic used for the makeshift greenhouse had burnt, just like what was planted in the martian soil. Diverting his gaze from where the greenhouse was, Kuroo looked around. Papers, tools, electronic pieces were scattered across the floor. On one desk, was what Tetsurou assumed was the radio Kiyoomi had created from and thanks to the _ExoMars_ pieces.

But there were no trace of Kiyoomi. Tetsurou swallowed, and started walking further into the habitat, passing through the leftovers of the greenhouse without second thoughts, and into the white tunnel he hoped was leading to where the crew supposedly rested. It was. He came to a small room, with a single, small bed. The other rooms were surely further away. He saw the bed first, then the screenboard. The one Kiyoomi recorded his logbook on. Then, he saw the numbers on the wall. Up to three hundred and four.

And then, his gaze fell on the human body on the floor, with his side slumped against the said wall, supporting his head. Kiyoomi. His whole body was limp, the only thing maintaining him clearly being the wall. His eyes were closed.

Kuroo didn’t need to think twice to put his helmet away and coming down to Kiyoomi’s side. His shaky fingers immediately flew to the astronaut’s pulse point. He only exhaled when he found the said pulse. A _weak_ one, but it was _there_. Tetsurou swallowed back his tears, gently shaking the other man’s weak body.

“Kiyoomi,” he called him. “Kiyoomi, come on, wake up.” he put the hand that was on the astronaut’s shoulder to his face, instead, cupping his cheek. “Omi, please.”

He looked at the man’s face. His hair had grown longer, compared to the picture he was used to see whenever they were in contact. His cheeks were hollow because of the malnourishment. Dark circles embraced his eyes, and his lips were chapped, probably because of both the dry atmosphere and lack of proper hydration. His whole body was definitely skinnier, as Kuroo could see from how oversized Kiyoomi’s grey t-shirt appeared on him.

The astronaut’s heart broke even more when exhausted, desperate, miserable eyes fluttered open and landed, though unfocused, on him. Kuroo ran a thumb on Kiyoomi’s cheekbone, just under his eye. He smiled at him, though it was wobbly.

“Hey,” Kuroo whispered, softly, gently. “I’m here, it’s okay.”

Eventually, Kiyoomi’s eyes seemed to settle properly on him. He exhaled an unsteady breath, as if he didn’t believe someone was actually in the room with him. That it was his brain playing some tricks to him. Kiyoomi raised a bony, shaking hand to Tetsurou’s face. At first, he seemed uncertain to touch him, afraid the illusion would just vanish if he did so. But, after a few seconds, a first finger rested against Kuroo’s cheek, then a second, and a third. A feather like touch, still too afraid to completely rest his whole hand on the other man’s cheek. Tetsurou smiled, warm and reassuring. He saw water at the corner of Sakusa’s eyes, but it didn’t fall. The other took another shaky breath.

“You came…” he said. His voice wasn’t louder than a whisper, as if just talking was an effort his body wasn’t capable of doing. 

Kuroo felt his own tears gather in his eyes. But he didn’t let them fall. “Of course I came, I told you I was.”

“You really came.” Kiyoomi repeated. His fingers had travelled on Tetsurou’s face. From his cheek to his eye, to the curve of his nose. And along the journey from his nose to his lips, a fourth and fifth finger joined in, all of them now resting on Kuroo’s lower lip, lightly pulling on it. But he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Kiyoomi had slowly and slightly moved from his place against the wall, which had made his face and body coming closer to the astronaut’s. Their forehead were brushing, and it only took Kuroo a small push on his head forward for them to rest against each other. Eventually, Kiyoomi’s body didn’t bear his weight anymore without any support, and he slumped further into Tetsurou’s space, until the man had to put his arms around him, as Sakusa’s forehead slipped from his and onto his shoulder, instead. Kuroo ran a hand through the frail man’s locks.

“Let’s bring you home.” he muttered into his ear. 

A few minutes later, Tetsurou was informing the _Poseidon_ he got Kiyoomi, and that the man was alive.

Twelve minutes later, the whole world got the news relayed through their televisions and radios. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_Mars orbit_

When they both reached the spacecraft, the MAV slowly detaching himself from the _Poseidon_ ’s grip, and that Kuroo opened the door of the hatch, supporting a weak Kiyoomi through the non gravity to reach the rotating quarters, Atsumu met them in the middle of the way. His face showed relief but also fear and anxiety. Kuroo saw his eyes settle on Kiyoomi, observing.

“I need to treat him, as soon as possible,” the surgeon said. “Ya mentioned an infected wound? I need to take care of that quickly.”

_Poseidon_

_241 days from Earth_

When Atsumu finally came back into the main area, it had felt like _hours_. But, he was bearing a smile on his face.

“He’s safe.”

Kuroo rested his head in his arms, crossed on the table in front of him, and openly sobbed as hands rubbed down his back, patted his shoulders or ran through his hair.

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_239 days from Earth_

The thing in space is, you don’t sleep on real beds. Your bed is resumed to a hanging sleeping bag in a narrow space - much like a closet, to be honest -. There was one “real bed” in the whole _Poseidon_ spacecraft. And it was in the infirmary quarters. And really, it wasn’t even a real bed someone went buying in a furniture supermarket, no. It was some nook the previous generations turned into a makeshift bed. So, yeah. It wasn’t the best, but at least, whoever was resting on it was at least sleeping on a mattress, in an area of the spacecraft where gravity was a thing. And it was certainly safer than risking to float around when you were hooked on IV’s.

The crew was absolutely forbidden to enter the infirmary. Atsumu’s dramatic order. But, Kuroo was the commander, so he surely will take a moment to stop by the infirmary. And he couldn’t sleep anyway. He aimlessly walked around the rotating gravity segment, and found Atsumu in the main area, sipping on some beverage Kuroo really hoped was something else than coffee. 

“Can’t sleep?” the surgeon asked, shooting a glance at the commander.

“Nah,” he answered. “Shouldn’t you be?” 

“I just checked on Omi,” Atsumu explained. “I’ll go once I’m done with this.” he mentioned to the mug in his hand.

Kuroo smirked and took the said mug from the blonde’s hands.

“Hey!”

“Commander's order, go and sleep.”

Atsumu sighed but didn’t fight back, slowly rising up from his chair.

“Ya can go and see him,” he said over his shoulder. “Though I think he’ll still be sleeping for a little time.”

“I’ll go when he’s awake.” Tetsurou answered.   
  


_Poseidon_

_238 days from Earth_

Kiyoomi woke up four days after their departure from Mars orbit. It’s Atsumu who relayed the news to them, as he was coming back from his hourly check up. They all smiled in relief and Kuroo heard Hinata mutter a “thank god” under his breath.

They all looked at him. And Kuroo looked back at them curiously.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I think you should be the one to see him first.” Bokuto said, gentle - always gentle - smile on his face. 

A few minutes later, after a few more pushing from his crewmates, Kuroo was in front of the infirmary’s “door” - it was just white curtains, really -. He just had to push it open. So, he did just that. Kiyoomi was seated on the nook used as a bed, his back resting against a pillow propped on the wall. He was connected to so many IV’s Kuroo lost count. He had been discarded of his biosuit and the grey t-shirt he was wearing underneath, leaving his torso bare. Tetsurou could see how skinny he had gotten, all muscle mass lost, making his ribs stand out. The wound on his stomach was patched up with a clean gauze. His face has been cleaned from the dirt, and he looked fresher now. Not yet healthy, but better than how Kuroo saw him four days ago. He got some colors back in his cheeks, and his dark circles seemed to have fainted a little. They were hydrating and nourishing him thanks to the IV’s for now.

“Sleeping beauty is up?” Tetsurou smirked, when Kiyoomi’s eyes settled on him. The curly-haired just glared, then avoided Kuroo’s gaze, to settle his own eyes on the window right next to him, looking outside. 

Kuroo waited for Sakusa to speak, but, picking up on the other’s silence, he crossed the room, and sat on the end of the bed, his own back resting against the window, and looked at Kiyoomi.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, gently. It was partially to end the silence that had settled, but he genuinely meant it.

“I’ve been better.” Kiyoomi answered, after a few seconds of fidgeting.

“Very funny,” Tetsurou laughed, mockingly. “And for real?”

Sakusa glared at him again, but Kuroo held it, and he glared back, challenging. Eventually, Kiyoomi sighed. 

“I saw myself dying,” he told the other, honest. “I was ready to let go - no I was already letting go for a long time,” he looks back at Kuroo. “And then, just as I was about to _fully_ let go… you came.”

Kuroo’s glare immediately vanished. Instead, his body untensed, looking at the broken man in front of him softly, fondly. Without even thinking twice, he put one of his hands on Kiyoomi’s, slowly, not to frightened him. He squeezed. 

Kiyoomi glanced at their hands, then back at Tetsurou. And the commander’s heart broke at the sight. Sakusa looked like a frightened man, a man that have seen too much. That experienced things nobody should go through.

A broken man that experienced isolation and abandon, lost on a planet, millions kilometers away from his home. Events that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Tetsurou squeezed his hand again and moved closer to Kiyoomi, careful not to crush his feet or legs. 

“The moment I found you,” he said, looking directly into Kiyoomi’s eyes. “I knew not coming for you was never an option.”

Kiyoomi was speechless. He didn’t know what to say. But Tetsurou was _sincere_ , in his words. He knew it. Most importantly, he _felt_ it. Kiyoomi just smiled at the other man, an honest smile, as tears gathered in his eyes. He looked back at their hands, and shifted his so they could rest their palms against each other’s, threading their fingers together as Kuroo squeezed again and his thumb rubbed slow circles on Kiyoomi’s hand.

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_233 days from Earth_

Five days later, Atsumu declared Sakusa capable of leaving the infirmary. With a threat of immediately going back if anything went wrong. Even the _slightest_ thing.

Shouyou was practically jumping from his spot on the chair, the excitement coming from him clear when looking at his face and demeanor. Lev wasn’t outdone, either. The two younger were certainly going to attack Kiyoomi with science related questions the moment the computer specialist will enter the room. And Tetsurou was ready to stop them from being overwhelming. Atsumu came in the main area a few seconds later, a fresh and clean looking Kiyoomi in tow, wearing a black NASA shirt and sweatpants, and sneakers. He was still weak, but he could walk. He had regained some energy in the last few days, thanks to his rest and the IV’s. He was a little bent over when walking, one of his arm circling his stomach and resting where his wound was.

But he was _okay_ , and he was _safe_. 

When all the others jumped from their seats to run to the other man, Kuroo didn’t even have the heart to tell them off anymore. Even if Sakusa seemed to deflate a bit under Hinata and Lev spitfiring their questions at him and Atsumu laughing to his face. 

“You really grew up vegetables? Can you tell me how?!”

“How did you manage to create a water system to hose it?”

“You should write a book about that, when we get back.” Tetsurou teased. Kiyoomi just glared, which made him laugh.

“Hey, that’s actually a good idea,” Bokuto commented. “The space carrots guide.”

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_128 days from Earth_

The _Poseidon_ was quiet. Everybody was sleeping, or supposed to be. Since Kuroo wasn’t. He just got down into the rotating segment, only finishing his daily logbook a few minutes ago. He didn’t expect to find Kiyoomi, sitting on one of the deckchair in the main room. His back was turned to him as the astronaut was looking out. Tetsurou went to one of the screen board control, and looked back at Kiyoomi.

“Do you mind some music?”

Sakusa turned to look at him, if he was surprised to not be alone with his thoughts anymore, he didn’t show it.

“Sure, go on.”

Kuroo clicked on the shuffle button, and lowered the volume so it wasn’t too loud. He recognized the song as _Apocalypse_ from Cigarettes After Sex. The commander walked to the deckchair, skirting around it.

“Do you mind if I sit?” he asked the other astronaut.

Kiyoomi glanced up and shook his head. Tetsurou sat down, quietly and at a respectable distant from the other man. Not too close yet not _too far_. They didn’t talk. They were basked in a silence. Not an uncomfortable one. This was actually soothing, knowing the other was next to you. _Finally_ next to you. There was a tension, hanging, moving around, keeping them on edge. Tetsurou turn his head to look at the man next to him. Kiyoomi did the same, mere seconds later. They looked at each other, taking in the presence of the other sitting next to them.

Fingers raised to Kuroo’s face. They rested on his cheekbone. Tetsurou remembered that fatuous day, when he went to fetch Kiyoomi on the Red Planet. Back then, the astronaut had done the same, though at that time, he surely was less conscious of his actions than he was now. Kiyoomi’s fingers softly brushed the tanned skin with the tips of his fingers, as if to assure himself once again that Kuroo was real. And not some trick his brain was playing. That he was really here with him. Tetsurou’s hand raised as well, putting it over Sakusa’s. He held it against his cheek, leaning into the touch.

Kiyoomi leaned in first, and Tetsurou met him in the middle. The hand that was resting against Sakusa’s moved to the back of the astronaut’s head, pulling him closer, hungrily, but not harming, careful. He gripped at the curly hair, gently, not wanting nor meaning to hurt. Eyes closed, both men basked in the sensations of feeling each other’s bodies, hands, lips against each other. Breathing in their scents. Tetsurou smelt and tasted like coffee, while Kiyoomi faintly smelled like antibiotics and disinfectant, but mostly like the shampoo he used, and he tasted like the chocolate cereal bar Kuroo saw Atsumu give him earlier. The hand against his cheek was rough and scratched up, from endless day cultivating and repairing.

When they pulled apart, Kuroo’s softer thumb brushed against Kiyoomi’s cheekbone, just like the other was doing to him earlier. Without speaking, they shifted on the deckchair. Kuroo rested against the backrest, holding Sakusa’s body close to his, their legs interlaced. It wasn’t the best, but they were comfortable. At some point, the song had changed to _Don’t Let Me Go_ , still from Cigarettes After Sex.

“Oh, so you have something else than _old_ songs.” Kiyoomi said.

His voice was muffled into the crook of Tetsurou’s neck, because of how they were sitting, but he could still hear the teasing tone. He sounded exhausted, given his body still hasn’t recovered. But Kuroo felt warm inside. The commander chuckled, his breath coming in huffs. He felt Kiyoomi do the same, warm air crashing against the skin of his neck. 

Kiyoomi, from his position, could feel Tetsurou’s heartbeat against his ear, taking notes on the fact that it was going slightly too fast. But it was steady. He closed his eyes, and let himself be lulled by the other’s stable breathing, and his heartbeat.

Kuroo’s face rested against Sakusa’s head, looking down at the man’s in his arms. He felt a smile stretching on his face. He buried his face in Kiyoomi’s hair, breathing in the scent of his shampoo - a clean, vaguely floral scent - still fresh from the shower he had taken earlier. He tucked a curly strand of hair behind Kiyoomi’s ear.

“God, I fucking love you, do you know that?” he whispered into his hair, closing his eyes and just _breathing_ Kiyoomi.

He didn’t see the smile pulling on Kiyoomi’s lips.

“So clingy.” he said.

Kuroo’s eyes shot open. Wasn’t the other sleeping?

Kiyoomi had felt the body underneath him tense at his answer, and he rolled his eyes. He put his left arm - that was previously resting between his legs - around Tetsurou’s waist and shifted to be more comfortable. Kuroo still hadn’t moved, but he felt him relax when he rubbed his thumb on his side. Kiyoomi felt sleep slowly gaining him.

He is about to fall asleep when he whispers it back.

And Kuroo heard him.

  
  
  


_Poseidon_

_3 days from Earth_

Earth. They could see it. They were _so_ close.

Three more days. Three more days and they were home.

Kiyoomi still couldn’t grasp the idea. He was going _home._

No more red sand, no more isolation, no more loneliness… Just home. Finally.

And all of this, possible thanks to one person. One person that kept looking for him. That crossed space just to get him back.

Kiyoomi floated to the airlock leading to the rotating gravity segment, sliding down the ladder until his feet touched the floor. The whole crew was already there, as he could hear them laughing loudly - Bokuto and Kuroo - and talking animatedly - Atsumu, Hinata and Lev -. Kuroo’s eyes found his when he entered the room, and the commander smiled.

“Ready to be back home?” Koutarou asked the computer specialist, a wide smile on his face.

“Everyone is going to be so happy to see you!” Shouyou added.

“You’re already famous, watch out,” Miya teased. “Mention me when you’ll get interviewed.”

Lev added something, but Kiyoomi couldn’t hear him. Actually, he couldn’t hear anyone. His ears were ringing loudly and his vision became blurry. He saw the grey floor getting closer, and he only understood a mere second too late that it was because his legs gave up on him. He heard a chorus of people shouting his name.

The last thing he heard before blacking out was Kuroo yelling “Omi!”.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Houston_

_30th November 2038_

_2:53 pm_

Kuroo got out of his car, checking the time on his watch. It was seven minutes until three. Perfect, he wasn’t late. He walked out of the parking and started making his way into the streets, and to the venue. His eyes widened upon seeing the amount of people already waiting in line, in front of the for now closed bookstore. Even in the cold wind of November. Some already had their own copy of the book they wanted to get signed in hand, others didn’t, and were impatiently waiting for the store to open to get their hands on it. And get it signed.

Tetsurou never thought he’ll go to a book signing event in his life. But here he was. Thinking about it, there are a lot of things Kuroo never thought he’ll do, and that he did. One of them being crossing space back and forth. Life was surprising. 

He got in line, and patiently waited until three, trying not to freeze over. 

He felt like he’s been here for hours, but when _finally_ it was only two more person before him, it was worth it. The heater of the store definitely helped. The last girl before him left with a goodbye and rosy cheeks, clutching her signed copy of _325 sols_ close to her chest.

“Sir,” the security called, and mentioned to him to move forward.

Kuroo did so without being told twice, and walked to the table. The man - the author - hadn’t notice him yet, signing some paper a manager - probably - had handed him. The man in front of him was muscular, Tetsurou could see it, even under his purposely oversized sweater he was wearing over a light blue shirt. His cheeks were now full, slightly rosy from the cold air that was passing through everytime someone entered the shop behind them. His curly hair was falling on one side of his head, exposing the two moles on the other side of his forehead.

Kiyoomi turned back to the front of the table, facing him, a “sorry for the wait” falling out of his lips, out of habit maybe. He stopped for a second when he realized who was standing in front of him, and huffed. The familiar puff of air being music to Tetsurou’s ears.

“So clingy.” the former astronaut greeted him.

Kiyoomi had resigned from his astronaut position a few months after his full recovery. NASA has been comprehensive, and had offered him a post as a computer specialist, as well as becoming a survival instructor for astronaut candidates. Kuroo had kept his position at being an astronaut. So did the rest of the _Hermes II_ crew. Bokuto had even been nominated to be the commander of the next _Hermes_ mission, after Tetsurou had refused to go back to space for now. Both Koutarou and Atsumu were settled to take place in _Hermes III_ , along with Oikawa and Atsumu’s twin brother, Osamu, in three years. 

“Can’t I even get my own copy of your book signed? I’m a fan, you know,” Tetsurou answered the author’s dig. “Oh, Bokuto wants a signed copy too.”

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes but grabbed two books from the piles next to him. He signed one, quickly, for Bokuto. He glanced at Kuroo when he opened the second one, pen marker hovering on the page.

“Did you even read it? he asked.

“Not yet.”

Sakusa sighed, and quickly scribbled something on the page, then gave the book to Kuroo. He made a no sign with his hand when the security guard was about to make Tetsurou leave. “Read the preface at least.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“Read it.”

“And I’m the clingy one.” Kuroo muttered as he did as he was told.

His eyes widened. When he heard cooes and screams coming from behind him, he looked up. Kiyoomi had gotten up from his chair, and was holding a gold ring between his thumb and index finger.

Before giving the book to Kuroo, he had written “will you marry me?” under the printed preface.

Kuroo shook his head, chuckling.

“I travelled space back and forth for you,” he said. He didn't want to show it to the dozens of persons watching them, right now. But he was definitely this close to cry. His whole body felt warm and tingly. He loved the man in front of him, and he was so grateful for him. “I’ll marry you in a heartbeat, silly.”

“Maybe that’s what our vows should look like,” Kiyoomi said, sliding the ring on Tetsurou’s finger. “Until space do us apart.”

The astronaut made a face. “Nah, even that won’t work.”

Kiyoomi huffed. “Your lame jokes, then.”

The security sheepishly called to them, mentioning it was time to let another person pass and get their book signed. The two men looked back at each other. Kiyoomi took the book from Kuroo’s hands again.

“I planned on asking you later, but you know,” he signed the page after writing something. He looked back at his now fiancé and shrugged. “Timing is an art.”

Kuroo shook his head again and leaned in, slowly, so Sakusa could back down if he wanted to. After his stay on Mars, physical contacts and social interactions became hard for him, he developed a fixation on germs, and he wasn’t going out without a mask anymore. Just holding the event right now was a big step, and Tetsurou was proud of him. 

But Kiyoomi didn’t back away and met Tetsurou halfway in a short but sweet kiss. Kuroo took the opportunity to place one peck on his cheek as well, before pulling away.

“See you at home.” Kiyoomi said, only for him to hear.

  
  
  
  


**_THE NEW YORK TIMES_ **

325 sols, _astronaut Sakusa survival story and how just one person can make a difference. p4_

**_FORWARD TIMES_ **

_Kiyoomi Sakusa about his now published book: “it’s a story about loneliness and despair. But it’s also about hope and love.” p16_

**_USA TODAY_ **

_Former astronaut Kiyoomi Sakusa proposing to boyfriend Tetsurou Kuroo -_ Hermes II _commander - during book signing event in Houston. p2_

**_USA TODAY [SPECIAL EDITION]_ **

Hermes _, return on the story that overturned the world_. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_325 sols_

_By Kiyoomi Sakusa_

_PREFACE_

_325 sols. It’s approximately 335 Earth days. So, 482 400 minutes. 482 400 minutes spent on Mars. 450 720 minutes crying frustrated tears over stupid space carrots. 450 720 minutes attempting to tend a wound that wouldn’t heal. 450 720 minutes believing I would die. And 289 440 minutes falling in love with the biggest dumbass I’ve ever had the good fortune to make contact with._

_So, thank you, Tetsurou Kuroo, for bringing me home and keeping me alive every minute until and since then._

_Tetsurou Kuroo, I love you. Thank you for finding me._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading ! \o/
> 
> Comments and kudos are my serotonin boost!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/bokutowantsyou)   
>  [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/bokutowantsyou)   
> 


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